High River residents demand to return home

Angry High River residents at the media briefing on Wednesday were incensed when told businesses needed to be open before they would be allowed back in.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

High River Mayor Emile Blokland, centre, told residents he understands the evacuation order is causing stress and that officials were “talking days ... not weeks” as a target date for them to return home.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

HIGH RIVER — Tensions between High River residents and officials reached a boiling point Wednesday as they demanded to be let back into the flood-ravaged community, while a group of doctors said health concerns are being exacerbated by preventing people from cleaning up their homes.

The push from residents has reached the point where lawyers are being consulted to determine what legal action could be taken.

High River resident Cam Crawford spent much of Tuesday consulting with lawyers to better understand the various government acts being used by town officials to keep residents out of the community that was ravaged by flooding.

“We’re continuing to assess our legal options and we have lawyers working on that as we speak,” he said Wednesday.

High River’s 13,0000 residents have been under a mandatory evacuation order since floods swept into the town Thursday. No one is legally allowed to return to the community, though some 327 residents defied orders and remain in their homes, even as the town lacks sewer, power and water.

Mayor Emile Blokland said letting residents return could happen sooner than later. “We’re talking days, we’re not talking weeks,” he said, adding he understands the evacuation order is causing strain.

“This is what’s causing a lot of stress and anxiety for all our residents. We want to get them back in as quickly as possible into the town and we also want to do it in a safe, systematic and orderly fashion so that we don’t create chaos in our community when we do return.”

But residents say time that could have been used pumping out water and removing sodden belongings, drywall and insulation is being wasted, and those in dry areas should be let back in during the day to start remediation.

“The fact that 200 to 300 residents remained and have been able to remediate is a travesty to those who chose to obey the mandatory evacuation,” Crawford said. “Now we’re the ones who have suffered insurmountable property damage because we obeyed the law.”

Crawford said emotions are running higher the longer High River residents are denied access to their homes.

“Today, we’re on the verge of some very major civil disobedience,” he said.

Premier Alison Redford called for patience, saying crews are working as hard and as fast as they can.

While residents have pointed out Calgarians have been allowed back into evacuated areas in recent days, the premier said issues are more complex than in Calgary where grocery stores remained open, the sewer system and water systems were left largely intact and electricity was restored quickly.

“We have in High River ... divers going into houses that people can’t get access to. We know there’s E. coli in the water. We know that there’s people getting dysentery, which is almost unheard of in Alberta. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to get through it,” Redford said.

It’s important that High River residents stay out of the community for their own safety and the protection of public officials, she added.

However, leaving damp walls and furniture for extended periods of time will create greater health hazards, said three doctors in an open letter to the premier, mayor and other officials.

The group of physicians — Dr. Sarah Bell-Dingwall, Dr. Adam Vyse and Dr. Brian Jensen — said the province, ministers and the Alberta Emergency Management Act are failing to take into consideration that the longer High River residents are out, the more dangerous the health consequences will be.

Water, combined with heat and humidity, will contribute to the growth of moulds, which can render a home virtually uninhabitable in as few as four to six days. Black mould, the letter reads, is nearly impossible to remove and it, along with other moulds, is linked to serious health issues, such as respiratory illness, pneumonia, neurological problems and, in some cases, can be fatal. They add that allowing people back would also have a positive psychological effect.

Blokland, meanwhile, said he has received only positive responses from those in the community.

About 50 residents gathered at a checkpoint near Highway 2 north of town to hear him and MLAs speak about recovery efforts and a possible re-entry date. But RCMP held the group back about 100 metres from the briefing, fuelling their frustration.

“It’s time to make citizens part of the solution rather than a problem,” said displaced resident Roy Matthews. “If it’s a safety issue, I’ll sign a waiver.”

Areas of the town that were not hit as hard will be opened first, Blokland said. “The rest of the community we will bring in as quickly as possible,” he said.

Blokland also said it was important for businesses, such as drug stores and hardware stores, be open before residents are allowed back in.

That comment only inflamed the crowd, some saying they only want to begin the clean up of their homes. Several began shaking their heads and shouting down the mayor as he quickly walked away from the group.

That, too, angered residents, with some yelling: “You’re not in charge!”, Impeach the bastard!” and “Wait until October!”

A point of further frustration is town officials saying they don’t need any more equipment or help to deal with the aftermath of the floods.

Lindsay Williamson, general manager of Cordy Environmental, said he has spent the last few days fielding calls from contractors around the province offering to help with the High River cleanup.

“We’re told they’ve got it under control,” he said of town officials’ response. “My answer to that is we’re going on Day 7 and we still don’t have residents back in town.”

About 164 High River evacuees at an emergency shelter in Nanton were told Wednesday afternoon that they will be moved to Lethbridge on Thursday.

The emergency shelter will then be used as one of two debit card processing sites that will open Thursday.

Displaced residents from High River will be the first to receive the government’s pre-loaded debit cards.

Rick Fraser, the associate minister of recovery and reconstruction responsible for High River and area, said the government is trying to help those most in need first.

“I’ve been around this province for a while, serving as an advanced-care paramedic for various communities through different disasters, and I can tell you, this is a full-on disaster. This isn’t just a flood. It affected an entire town,” he said.

Those residents who have not left High River — said to be 327 people — will not be eligible unless they leave town, Fraser said.

The debit cards allow for immediate cash withdrawals at ATMs, debit machines and Internet purchases. Individual adult evacuees will be eligible to receive $1,250 and children under 18 will be eligible for $500.

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